Coach Babits vaults 15-9 for M45 indoor WR
The old slur is “Those who can’t, teach.” That doesn’t apply to Coach Paul Babits of Indiana. Paul, who guides aspiring stickjumpers at his camps in Fort Wayne, just turned 45. And over the weekend, Paul cleared 4.80 (15-9) for an M45 world indoor record at the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada. Paul topped the listed M45 record of 4.78 (15-8 1/4) by Gary Hunter of Indiana in March 2001 at Boston masters nationals. Gary was third at Reno, and if he’s in M50, his 4.30 (14-1 1/4) was just short of the listed M50 American age-group record of 4.32 (14-2) by Vincent Struble of North Carolina at Boston masters nationals in March 2002. (The listed M50 record is 4.63 (15-2 1/4) by Germany’s Wolfgang Ritte in February 2004.
Paul was the silver medalist at the San Sebastian world meet last summer, going the same height (4.60 or 15-1) as M40 champion Francisco Hernandez of Spain. In March 2005, Paul was the bridesmaid at the Boise indoor nationals, losing on fewer misses to Paul Sinatra of Sacramento at 4.70 meters (15-5) in the M40 age group.
Paul Babits’ best outdoor jump last year, according to Dave Clingan’s mastersrankings.com, was 4.90 (16-0 3/4).
According to this online list, Babits has an all-time best of 5.51 (18-1), set in Chicago in 1984. His listed birthdate is Dec. 24, 1960.
These are the masters men’s results from Reno:
926 Paul Babits Vault High 4.80 1 New Masters World Record !!!
521 Paul Sinatra Roseville Express TC 4.40 2
383 Gary Hunter 4.30 3
749 Dan West Oregon Track Club Masters 4.20 4
1190 Mike Hogan Surfside Athletic Club 4.00 5
55 Mark Rose Mardi Gras Track Club 4.00 6
985 Mark Pierson Mercury Track Club 4.00 7
684 Allan Williams Great Britain 3.80 8
558 Mike Logue Defy Gravity 3.80 9
508 Bill Chilson Marauder Vault 3.80 10
595 Ambroise Courteau Montreal Olympique 3.60 11
1177 Bernie Miller Surf Side Athletics NH
1229 Mark Breault Tailwind Pole Vault NH
302 Kenneth Bayless Acalanes Vault Club NH
1794 Brad McFarling Max Vault NH
1232 Robert Crites NH
1220 Dave Broderick Weber State NH
265 John Bagatlelos Tri Valley Vault DNS
801 Brad Smith Acalanes Vault DNS
70 Curt Roth DNS
One Response
There were many more Masters at Reno in the 35-39 age group, however we were put in the Open Men’s groups with post college, college redshirts, and junior college athletes.
Leave a Reply